Simply stunning (Gladiator - Soundtrack)

Member Name: GroundZero

Product:	Gladiator - Soundtrack
Date:	31/01/01 (311 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Some wonderful themes, very atmospheric, extremely powerful

Disadvantages: None at all

An epic film deserves a soundtrack to match. Happily Gladiator’s is no let down. On the contrary, this is an exceptional soundtrack, with music that adds immeasurably to the emotional impact of the film. A soundtrack should be more than just a selection of music that plays in the background, while you watch what’s going on. In this case, the music sets the mood for the on-screen action, and helps to set the tempo in some of the more dramatic scenes.

Composed by Hans Zimmer, a veteran of Hollywood blockbuster soundtracks (the Rock, M:I2, the Thin Red Line), the album contains a wealth of beautiful music, with the softer love themes interspersed with the more dramatic battle themes that will give your speakers a good work-out. Lisa Gerrard supplies vocals and plays a major part in the overall impact of the music. At times haunting, at others remarkably powerful, Gerrard’s beautiful and soulful vocals add much to the appeal of the album. “Wheat” in particular showcases what she brings to the album.

The music matches the film perfectly, capturing the savagery and brutality of the gladiator games, while at the same time giving the impression of the nobility and relatively civilised nature of the Roman empire.

The opening track “Progeny” sets the tone for the rest of the album. From here the music is just a captivating blend of highly atmospheric tracks. A number of recurring themes are recognisable, although they do tend to appear in differing contexts – the love themes easily transfer into the context of the battle music.

“Barbarian Horde” conveys the chaos and sheer exhilaration of the opening battle sequence of the film. This is one of those scenes where a film is crying out for a fitting backing track, and Gladiator’s fits the bill perfectly. It is also the second longest track on the album at just over 10 minutes, as it covers the full spectrum of the ba
ttle, from the brutality of the fighting to the elation of the Roman soldiers at their victory.

The music used when Marcus Aurelius is murdered by his enraged son, “Patricide” is particularly effective in hinting at the darkness that lies within Commodus, and his subsequent descent into madness.

“Slaves to Rome”, although one of the shortest tracks is an extremely upbeat number which is intended to get across the sheer awe of the slaves as they are led through the streets of Rome to the Coliseum for the first time.

“The Might Of Rome”, as Zimmer himself admits, borrows heavily from Wagnerian themes. The re-enactment of the battle of Carthage within the Coliseum is played against the backdrop of “The Battle”, a track which builds in excitement as the condemned gladiators get the better of the supposed victors of the battle.

“Elysium” shows off Gerrard’s exceptional voice to great effect – this is used as the music on the menu screens of the extras DVD. The final track, “Now we are free” rounds off the album well. It will be familiar to owners of the Region 2 DVD as the backing track for the deleted scene montage, an absolutely stunning combination.

If like me you fall in love with the music of Gladiator, as well as buying the soundtrack you should check out the Hans Zimmer documentary on the extras disc that comes with the DVD of the film. This covers in some depth Zimmer’s aims with the soundtrack, and shows the extent to which he became wrapped up in his work on the project.

When I first saw Gladiator, I was conscious that the soundtrack was an exceptional piece of work, and ever since I have bought it, my liking and admiration for it has only increased. I strongly recommend you check it out – you can even get short samples of the tracks over at Amazon’s UK website. I fully expect to see this album picking
up a few nominations in the current awards season.

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